CNN catches McCain making contradictory statements about Sadr.  —  In an interview with CNN earlier today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) claimed that he has long understood the influence of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr: … But in a report on The Situation Room today …

The March 2003 Yoo Memo Emerges! (not an April Fool's Joke): The Torture Memo to Top All Torture Memos  —  Subhead: The Big Kahuna: The Torture Memo that Makes the August 2002 Memo Look Like Objective and Thoughtful Legal Analysis  —  On Friday, March 13, 2003, Jay Bybee left his office …

Hillary fired for lies, unethical behavior from Congressional job: former boss  —  Dan Calabrese's new column on Hillary Clinton's past may bring the curtain down on her political future.  Calabrese interviewed Jerry Zeifman, the man who served as chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during …

The Singles Map  —  This is the new and improved version the singles map published yesterday in the Boston Globe.  —  A Singles Map of the United States  —  Which cities have a surplus of single men (or women) - and what that means for the country  —  By Richard Florida

No Iraq Intelligence Update For You!  —  For weeks, analysts within the 16-agency U.S. intelligence community have been toiling to complete an assessment of the situation in Iraq.  This morning, it finally went to the Hill: the Senate and House intelligence committees, and the leadership in both chambers …

Obama casts race between him, McCain  —  WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Sen. Barack Obama is talking about the elephant in the room — Republican rival John McCain — and all but ignoring the Democrat who stands between him and his party's presidential nomination.  —  Even though Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton …

Harold Ickes Confirms That Wright Is Key Topic In Discussions With Super-Delegates  —  In an interview with me this morning, senior Hillary adviser Harold Ickes confirmed that Reverend Jeremiah Wright is a key topic in discussions with uncommitted super-delegates over whether Obama is electable in a general election.

Student calls McCain out for political motivations of school appearance.  —  Today Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) stopped at his alma mater, Episcopal High School in Virginia, to lecture on the importance of teaching and the honor code.  McCain's toughest question came from student Katelyn Halldorson …

Elizabeth Edwards Responds: Why Are People Like Me Left Out Of Your Health Care Proposal, Sen. McCain?  —  Our guest blogger is Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Presidential candidate John Edwards.  —  I freely admit that I am confused about the role of overnight funding in repurchase markets in the collapse of Bear Stearns.

Clinton pleads for time  —  Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams put out a memo in which she casts the cause of keeping the campaign alive as an issue in and of itself, a kind of voting rights issue.  —  She lists the states yet to vote: … I tend to agree with Steve Benen on this …

Democrats' Turmoil Tests Party's Low-Key Leader  —  WASHINGTON — The turmoil in the Democratic presidential race has presented a sharp test of Howard Dean's low-profile approach to leading the Democratic National Committee, bringing calls from many Democrats for him to take a more aggressive role …

Pentagon Is Expected to Close Intelligence Unit  —  WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is expected to shut a controversial intelligence office that has drawn fire from lawmakers and civil liberties groups who charge that it was part of an effort by the Defense Department to expand into domestic spying.

Dems seek Texas seat held by elder Bush  —  Democrats have been increasingly bullish about their ability to win over suburban, ancestrally Republican House districts that have been trending in their party's direction over the past decade.  —  But their party's latest target shows just how confident Democrats have become.

Blumenthal Claims Inside Knowledge that McCain Flirted with Leaving GOP  —  Clinton campaign adviser points to presumptive GOP nominee's positions on torture, taxes, global warming, tobacco and health care as evidence.  —  Business & Media Institute  —  Could John McCain have been the Independent or Democratic senator from Arizona?

Pa. Jewish Leaders Praise Obama in Letter  —  Hillary Rodham Clinton might have the endorsement of two of the top Jewish names in Pennsylvania politics — Governor Ed Rendell and Rep. Allyson Schwartz of Philadelphia — but 70 other leading Jewish professionals from the Keystone State …

Dark Clouds  —  First, Matt Stoller claimed that McCain's speech in Meridian, MS was a “racist dogwhistle” because a civil rights worker who had been murdered in a completely different Mississippi city had been born in Meridian.  Never mind that Meridian is “not far from the naval air station …